Tole painting is the

folk art Folk art covers all forms of visual art made in the context of folk culture. Definitions vary, but generally the objects have practical utility of some kind, rather than being exclusively decorative. The makers of folk art are typically tr ...

of decorative painting on

tin Tin is a chemical element with the symbol Sn (from la, stannum) and atomic number 50. Tin is a silvery-coloured metal. Tin is soft enough to be cut with little force and a bar of tin can be bent by hand with little effort. When bent, t ...

and wooden utensils, objects and furniture. Typical metal objects include utensils,

coffee pot A coffeemaker, coffee maker or coffee machine is a cooking appliance used to brew coffee. While there are many different types of coffeemakers the two most common brewing principles use gravity or pressure to move hot water through coffee gr ...

s, and similar household items. Wooden objects include tables, chairs, and chests, including hope chests, toyboxes and jewelry boxes. With a longer history in Europe (see

toleware The term ''tôle'', derived from the French '' tôle peinte'', "painted sheet metal", is synonymous in English usage with japanning on tin, such as the tôle shades for bouilotte lamps and other candle shades, and trays and lidded canisters, in ...

), in America the practice began in 18th century

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, and was also extensively carried on among

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Pennsylvania Pennsylvania (; ( Pennsylvania Dutch: )), officially the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, is a state spanning the Mid-Atlantic, Northeastern, Appalachian, and Great Lakes regions of the United States. It borders Delaware to its southeast, ...

. A separate, related tradition occurs in the Netherlands and among Scandinavian countries and immigrants, including Norwegians, Danes and Swedes. German tole painting may concentrate more on metal and tin objects, while Scandinavians and Netherlanders may concentrate more on wooden objects and furniture. Patterns in the two traditions vary slightly as well. Modern tole painting typically uses inexpensive, long-lasting and sturdy

acrylic paint Acrylic paint is a fast-drying paint made of pigment suspended in acrylic polymer emulsion and plasticizers, silicone oils, defoamers, stabilizers, or metal soaps. Most acrylic paints are water-based, but become water-resistant when dry. De ...

s. Good quality wooden work is sealed, primed and sanded before the decorative paint is applied. The most beloved family objects tend to be high quality utensils or furniture, painted freehand with favorite patterns, colors or flowers, humorous themes, family in-jokes, or illustrations of favorite or family stories. The perceived value of a tolled utensil increases with its quality as a utensil, the quality of the art, and the personalization, the story, of the work. An advantage of tole painting as a craft is that a bad painting can be sanded off and repainted. One of the signs of such repaintings is a black-backgrounded tole-painted object. Very often such objects are repainted, especially if the furniture or utensil is valuable and the painter is inexperienced.

Modern history

Tole painting experienced a resurgence in the 1960s when teachers began opening studios in cities around the United States. One notable teacher is Priscilla Hauser of

Tulsa, Oklahoma Tulsa () is the second-largest city in the state of Oklahoma and 47th-most populous city in the United States. The population was 413,066 as of the 2020 census. It is the principal municipality of the Tulsa Metropolitan Area, a region with ...

. After opening Priscilla's Little Red Tole House in 1968, she began to organize teachers and studios around the midwest, trained students to become teachers, and in 1972 began the National Society of Tole and Decorative Painters, which would eventually become the Society of Decorative Painters. Tole painting is now a worldwide phenomenon, largely due to the international expansion of the now 50-year-old Society of Decorative Painters.

References

External links

Society of Decorative Painters

Priscilla Hauser
Decorative arts Folk art {{art-technique-stub

Modern history

See also

References

External links